Killing of Journalist Gongadze in Focus Again

Did the killing of journalist Gongadze entail more victims?
PRAVDA.Ru already reported that the criminal investigation into the killing of journalist Georgy Gongadze was connected with another criminal case, the case of Ukrainian "werewolf policemen". Former officer of the Police Department Fighting with Organized Crime Igor Goncharov suspected with organization of the gang of werewolf policemen died on August 1; next day his body was hastily cremated. In a day, the Ukraine Mass Information Institute published some documents that Igor Goncharov had left after himself. There were 17 hand-written pages addressed to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Goncharov also left an address to the community that was later published on the website of the Ukraine Mass Information Institute. It was said that Goncharov's letter informed about a hiding-place where material evidence concerning the case of Georgy Gongadze was hidden.

It was immediately declared that the documents were not authentic. In particular, Deputy Grigory Omelchenko, who is in charge of the investigation of killing of Georgy Gongadze, said that the documents must undergo a special handwriting expertise for authenticity. However, it is almost for sure that the documents were written by Igor Goncharov as members of the family recognized Goncharov's handwriting. What is more, editor-in-chief of the Criminal Ukraine website Oleg Yeltsov says that he saw letters from Goncharov already in winter (at that period Igor Goncharov stayed at a detention center).
 
The Office of Ukraine's Prosecutor General at first declared that it was decided not to comment upon the fact of Goncharov's death and upon abstracts from his letter. This sounded rather strange especially that attorney of Igor Goncharov says it was a violent death. Goncharov himself wrote about tortures he suffered. Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Medvedko says that the Prosecutor's Office learnt nothing new from Goncharov's letters (does it mean that the hiding-place and the material evidence concerning the killing of Georgy Gongadze are a myth? Or are they already among the materials of the case?) Officials of the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office don't unveil details of Goncharov's death and say the dead body was cremated according to the legislation (but doesn't the law say that necropsy is required when a prisoner dies at a detention center?).

Is the Prosecutor General's Office already aware that the body of slain journalist Georgy Gongadze was first found by officers of the Ukrainian Security Service who then re-buried the body in a different place so that it could be easily discovered once again? It is not clear why that was done. May it be so that the special service thus demonstrated its force? No comments from the Ukrainian Security Service upon the subject have been received yet. It was only declared that the Prosecutor's Office was responsible for the case on publishing of Igor Goncharov's documents and the investigation into the killing of journalist Gongadze.

Meanwhile, Deputy Grigory Omelchenko told the Mass Information Institute that the committee of inquiry "has information proving that officers of the Ukrainian Security Service found the dead body of Georgy Gongadze and re-buried it in Tarashansky woods so that the body could be easily found." One of the Security Service officers helped Igor Goncharov collect documents concerning the killing of the journalist (the name of the officer is mentioned in Goncharov's letters). Grigory Omelchenko says that he demanded to guarantee security to special service officials connected with the case of Georgy Gongadze.

It is reported that Grigory Omelchenko asked the Prosecutor's Office to guarantee security of the Criminal Ukraine website editor-in-chief Oleg Yeltsov. According to some data, it was Oleg Yeltsov who was chosen as a victim in September 2000, but Igor Goncharov persuaded all people concerned that some other man must be preferred because Yeltsov was aware he was shadowed. Georgy Gongadze became that other man.

As PRAVDA.Ru already reported, recently an attack was committed at Oleg Yeltsov near his house; now the journalist says the attack was connected with the case of Georgy Gongadze.

Major Nikolay Melnicheko who is now in political asylum in the USA is closely watching the events in Ukraine. In an interview with the Ukrainskaya Pravda newspaper he said "it is no doubt a violent killing was committed in the law enforcement structure of Ukraine (he means the death of Igor Goncharov)". At the same time, the major is sure that the killing was done with a view to "rehabilitate Leonid Kuchma as concerning the case of Georgy Gongadze". The names of the executors will be published (are the people already dead?); but it is not ruled out that the hiding-place contains materials that may "prove non-participation" of Leonid Kuchma in the crime. The ex-major says he has information that soon falsified audio and video materials will show up that are to "save Kuchma and Co. from responsibility for what they've done." Nikolay Melnichenko says that this might be the killing of journalist Gongadze.